The European market for equity software is fragmented. While US companies have been using online platforms to manage their cap tables and employee shareholdings for some time now, startups in Europe are still busy with spreadsheets. Founders therefore often find it difficult to use employee shareholdings effectively, or to model more complex financing rounds with liquidation preferences.
Zurich-based Ledgy aims to solve these problem with its accounting software to digitise equity management. With its platform, it hopes to create a stronger European startup ecosystem, in which all transactions are processed digitally.
The startup has just raised €1 million to expand across Europe. The seed round was raised from several European investors, including btov Partners, Creathor Ventures, and VI Partners. Daniel Gutenberg and Luis Cabiedes, leading business angels in Switzerland and Spain, as well as Paul Sevinç and Myke Naef, founders of Doodle, also participated in the round.
Ledgy’s software simplifies the overview of vesting plans, phantom programs, and numbered shares. And thanks to round and exit modeling, founders are able to gain valuable insights for negotiations.
Founded in 2017, around 200 companies are already using Ledgy’s software, after it launched in Switzerland just a few months ago. The startup intends to use the new funding to launch its product in Germany, France and Great Britain.
Ben Brandt, CEO of Ledgy, explains: “Ledgy sets a new standard for managing the equity of companies in Europe. In particular, employee participation is critical to an emerging startup ecosystem. In comparison, companies in Europe give their employees ten times less shares than in the USA – which is also due to a lack of tools.”
Florian Schweitzer, CEO of btov, said: “We really appreciate the Ledgy team. They have the potential not only to create the new standard for cap-table management in startups, but also to decisively improve business for us investors. We look forward to actively participating in Ledgy’s future not only as investors, but also as customers.”
